The Ironclass Shipyard and drydock are a class of large naval drydock, shipyard, and refit installation manufactured by the Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia and can be dated to have been used as the primary class of shipyard for the DIoN for as long as can be recalled in its history.

The Ironclass Shipyard and drydock are stationary in nature and once deployed in a system require other ships to tug it in and out of STL/FTL in order to be moved.

The ironclass specializes in providing the capabilities to manufacture, salvage, or repair starship hulls wherever it may be established or based be it in or out-system.

• Ship construction
• Ship repair
• Salvage/scrap deconstruction

The Ironclass Shipyard works much the same as an autofactory printer in that it prints a ship from the inside out using massive NCS style print heads that place and manipulate relative material into a ships hull and systems starting at the core of a ship¹⁾ and then working outwards until completion. The print heads are intricate and sensitive enough that the delicate insides of a ship from the wiring to even the lighting is able to be designed by the print heads and draw material from massive fabricator banks that, when supplied with enough raw and/or required materials, can design ships from as small as shuttles to as grand as capital ships, with anything in-between.

When materials are in short supply the installation can dismantle scrap, debris, or even stellar bodies for the base components and has an auto-fabricator array that draws latent metals from the cosmic winds to slowly refill minute gaps in its material supply when not in use to ensure in hard times or when a lack of logistics is present that it can continue to operate in some capacity.

The shipyard itself is massive in size. It is the size of a small space station and is built around a lengthy cradle capable of encompassing almost any class of ship short of super-freighters or super-capital class of ships for construction or repair. It is cylindrical and skeletal in design with the only massed parts of the shipyard being for equipment, material storage, and essential components and machinery.

The ironclass is a large and stationary shipyard requiring only a skeleton crew to operate a predominately automated instalation

• Type: Shipyard/drydock
• Designers: Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia
• Manufacturer: Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia
• Fielded by: Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia

Crew: 12 operators are recommended, 12 are required.

Maximum Capacity: There are accommodations for 12 people. About 24 people can fit aboard in an emergency, but the shipyard would be extremely cramped.

• Length: 10,455 meters
• Width: 4,400 meters
• Height: 4,600 meters

Damage Rating (Version 3) T-15 heavy capital.

The inside of the shipyard is extensively bare. Most of the entire interior space is dedicated to the shipyards' production and storage capabilities with the small exception of limited crew quarters for three shifts of crewmen required to oversee the operation of the shipyard.

The outside of these quarters is airless and requires an EVA suit. The shipyard is almost entirely populated by Junkers that maintain the shipyard.

The Ironclass is relatively under armored and practically unarmed for its size; Utilizing its size for its purpose and less for offense or defense it relies almost entirely on the protection of other entities such as friendly local starships and security forces for its protection and focusses entirely on its purpose as a shipyard.

Due to the size of the shipyard, its hull and superstructure are made of a mixture of Durandium Alloy plating to protect it from minor damage and a Nerimium-reinforced structure to keep the massive size of the installation from twisting or tearing itself apart from inertia, movement, or gravity.

The station has basic sensors and communications suites to monitor and guide ships into its cradle, as well as to communicate with friendly vessels in the system. For electronics the installation has either a dedicated Advanced Command/Combat Executive AI or similar artificial intelligence controller to oversee its systems.

The databanks of the installation contain the up-to-date layout, configuration, and design of any desired or authorized starship hull and its relative components and weapons. All of this data is overseen by the ACE AI locked deep in the bowels of the installation and is not able to be reached by any conventional means²⁾. These designs can not be downloaded, altered, or even accessed by any third party (including the installations crew) and are kept encrypted by the ACE to ensure absolute security. Designs are petitioned to the AI by the crew upon request and are then approved or denied by the AI after receiving proper approval by the proper authorities in the chain of command when applicable.

If loaned or sold to non-DIoN governments the installation is left without an ACE installed and is left to the receiver to install their own AI with their own relative designs.

For obvious reasons the shipyard does not manufacture explosive ordinance on-site and any ships birthed from it must be restocked accordingly.

The shipyard contains two Na-EP-01a "Scapegoat" Escape Pod to ensure the survival of its crew.

The installation has limited life support for its crew in its quarters and command deck. The rest of the installation is left airless.

The installation has no available shields.

The installation has no offensive weaponry with the exception of minimal point-defense intended to protect it from debris or small stellar bodies. It relies more on a system's security forces and patrol vessels to protect it.

Charmaylarg created this article on 2020/12/06 15:42.

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